Behavioural Approach Flashcards
What are the assumptions of the behaviourist approach?
Behaviour is learned from experience
Humans are all born a blank slate, no genetic influence on behaviour
Only observable behaviour and scientific and measurable and is what should be studied
It is valid to study animals as they share the same principles of learning as humans
What is classical conditioning?
Learning by association of a neutral stimulus with a reflex action
What is operant conditioning?
Learning through consequence
What was the Skinner box?
Pigeon in a box would be fed for every correct step it took until the task was completed then it would be made more difficult
What is the law of effect?
If behaviour is followed by satisfying consequences then it is more likely to be repeated
What was pavlovs study?
Fed his dogs which would salivate
Then coordinated feeding with ringing a bell then he would ring the bell without feeding them and they would still salivate
What are the strengths of the approach?
Uses objective methodology so the results are based on research and more valid
Operant and classical conditioning have been applied to the real world (operant in school) so it demonstrates that it is applicable to real life
What are the limitations of the approach?
Biological factors are rejected and some reflex behaviours like babies sucking can’t be explained so it contradicts the theory that al behaviour is learned
Use of animals and lab experiments are disliked by some as we can’t apply animals research to humans.
Some state that experiments demonstrate artificial, not natural learning so there is low ecological validity. Results can’t be applied to the real world
What was the little Albert study?
Baby given a lab rat and played a loud sound to cause fear, the baby was given the lab rat without the sound and the baby still feared it so the baby became scared of the rat by association to the sound which shows classical conditioning in the real world
What is the point where the stimulus is no longer generalised?
Stimulus discrimination
What type of behaviour does classical conditioning involve?
Reflex actions
